What to Watch For: Bucks

Let’s go back to something that Jason Kidd said earlier this season about the big men.

“We believe they’re playmakers, they’re quarterbacks in the offensive end,” Kidd said. “Then in the defensive end they are the anchor. It’s being able to talk on pick-and-roll coverage and then also being there in support if someone gets beat, to meet them (opposing players) at the rim.”

This season, there has been a serious difference between how the team plays when Larry Sanders is on the court versus when Zaza Pachulia is on the court. Sanders is a black hole where offensive production goes to die. This applies to both sides of the court.

On defense, teams are shooting less than 40% when Sanders is in the game. Sanders is strong at snuffing out drives before they even get started. He sags off into the paint off of most picks. He’s too long and athletic for teams for guards to challenge him. He’s too quick and aware to lose the roll man. Teams only take seven shots a game at the rim against Sanders. Those shots only convert at 43%. Pachulia can’t hope to match Sanders on defense and the Bucks suffer there accordingly. With Sanders on the court, the Bucks defensive rating is 91.6, with him off the court, it’s 101.7.

Offensively, Pachulia has been a solid foundation whereas Sanders has been a disaster. He is the quarterback that Kidd was talking about. Against the Knicks, Pachulia was on the elbow and found Brandon Knight for an easy layup which is something that Sanders will probably never be able to do regularly. His field goal percentage also keeps defenses honest and gives the Bucks more options. Sanders disastrous field goal percentage (48% from less than five feet away) has been a pain.

With Sanders questionable again, look for the Bucks to have another solid offensive outing with some questionable defense again. While it is nice to see the offense hum a bit, Sanders is the preference. Sanders has a much more widespread effect on defense that can carry some questionable defenders on the team. Pachulia doesn’t really cover-up some of the other big offensive problems like turnovers or lack of free throws. Patience is the key. Just let Sanders heal from his bruise and he’ll eventually start making his layups which will remedy a few things. Or maybe just teach Pachulia and Sanders how to do the Dragonball Z Fusion Dance.

What to Watch For: Nets

This is either Mikhail Prokhorov to Kidd or Lionel Hollins to Brook Lopez tonight:

Choose the Form of the Destroyer:

Prediction:

]]>http://www.bucksketball.com/2014/11/dramaaaaaaaaaaaaa-bucks-nets-preview/feed/1Do you believe in Magic in a young Bucks heart? Bucks-Magic Previewhttp://www.bucksketball.com/2014/11/do-you-believe-in-magic-in-a-young-bucks-heart-bucks-magic-preview/
http://www.bucksketball.com/2014/11/do-you-believe-in-magic-in-a-young-bucks-heart-bucks-magic-preview/#commentsFri, 14 Nov 2014 19:11:05 +0000http://www.bucksketball.com/?p=14085The Milwaukee Bucks are looking for a winning record tonight and three consecutive wins for the first time since former Marquette point guard Jim Boylan was coaching the team. “He never got a fair shake!” is a thing that I never said about Boylan. Honestly, he had a tough assignment having to coach with two uncouth ruffians on his team.

What to Watch For: Bucks

The question of whether the Bucks actually have a good defense or they’re just getting lucky with an early string of offensively stagnant opponents isn’t going to get answered tonight. The Orland Magic are ranked 28 in offensive rating.

The Magic’s offense is bad in a completely different way compared to their other opponents. The Bucks have run gotten a string of poor shooting teams. The Magic can shoot. They have a team three-point percentage of .401 and an effective field goal percentage of .506. Their offense fails in every other category that isn’t shooting: lots of turnovers (that’s just what you have to live with having a rookie point guard and an overall young team), very few free throws, and despite having Nikola “Vucci Mane” Vucevic, they don’t get many offensive rebounds.

Because the Magic squander so many possessions, expect the offense to look especially good tonight. Brandon “I only play at one speed” Knight and the rest of the offense does its best work when they’ve got the defense backpedaling and has no time to get set.

What to Watch For: Magic

The Tobias Harris bandwagon still runs strong in the Bucksketball comments. He’s doing pretty well for himself this year. His shooting threes at the NBA average(which is exactly what I was willing to settle for from him), he’s a heck of a rebounder, and he’s a very efficient scorer. He’s also become an excellent trash talker.

Again, Tobias Harris was recently asked what sort of effect Tyler Hansbrough has on a game. “None,” he said. #magic

Choose the Form of the Destroyer: It’s all Vucci baby

Larry Sanders is on a roll, so Vucevic probably won’t have his best game tonight. But I like him and I want to see him get a 30-20

Prediction: John Hammond trades Tobias Harris midgame for two second round picks

]]>http://www.bucksketball.com/2014/11/do-you-believe-in-magic-in-a-young-bucks-heart-bucks-magic-preview/feed/2This new arena is probably happening. Bucks name new members to the ownership group.http://www.bucksketball.com/2014/10/this-new-arena-is-probably-happening-bucks-name-new-members-to-the-ownership-group/
http://www.bucksketball.com/2014/10/this-new-arena-is-probably-happening-bucks-name-new-members-to-the-ownership-group/#commentsFri, 17 Oct 2014 15:17:44 +0000http://www.bucksketball.com/?p=13732Marc Lasry, Wes Edens, and Jamie Dinan

Friday morning the Milwaukee Bucks announced several new members of the ownership team: New York hedge fund manager Jamie Dinan, Wisconsin Energy Corporation Gale Klappa, Brookfield developer Jon Hammes, and the Partners for Community Impact LLC (PCI). PCI members include Michale Barber, Valerie Daniels-Carter, Virgis Colbert, Charles Harvey, and Cory Nettles. They’re all very important people.

The big name is billionaire Jamie Dinan. According to Forbes, he’s worth $2.2 billion dollars.

Like Marc Lasry and Wes Edens, he’s a major Democratic donor on the national level, so Scott Walker could not possibly care about what he wants. Neither Dinan, Lasry, nor Edens have given any money publicly to Mary Burke, Tom Barrett, or Chris Abele. Until any of these billionaires actually turn the promise of putting their money into Wisconsin into a reality, the politicians’ responses to the very unpopular idea of public funding for a new arena are going to be lukewarm at best.

But Dinan is not necessarily the name to get hung up on.

It’s the local names that are the important ones. Between them, Klappa and Hammes have contributed over $25,000 to Scott Walker in the last three elections. That’s only looking what’s been contributed in their names and not counting what’s been contributed in spouse’s names or to PACs. Klappa has also given $2,000 to Tom Barrett. They also have scattered contributions to Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices, State Senators, etc.

They’re connected locally. And they’re connected much further than just the campaign contributions. Regular people, like you and me, we can give money, we can vote, but after the election we’re completely inconsequential until the next election. Gale Klappa is in charge of all gas and electricity in southeast Wisconsin. Hammes is the top healthcare developer in the state and he’s been involved in the renovation of Lambeau Field and the development of the Kohl Center. Their resources are essential toward legitimizing the governing capacity of any regime that’s in charge after the election. They still have a voice after the election. If they’re talking about an arena, then our leaders are talking about arena.

PCI was added to help convince everyone that funneling resources from our poorest neighborhoods into downtown is still a good idea even though that’s one of the many, many reasons for why the insane levels of segregation and poverty exist in the city, but that’s a discussion for another time.

There was quite a panic on the internet yesterday about a secret NBA conspiracy to take the Bucks out of Milwaukee and move them to Seattle. The thinking went that the NBA would encourage, quietly of course, Lasry and Edens to fail to get an arena built in Milwaukee, at which point the league could buy back the Bucks, sell them to an ownership team looking to move them to Seattle and split a billion dollars among the existing owners. Simple as that.

That seemed far-fetched on Thursday and it seems nearly insane on Friday. What was true when the team was purchased was true before the team was purchased and is true today: If an arena gets built, the Bucks will stay in Milwaukee.

Lasry and Edens are smart guys. They know what they don’t have and they know what kind of resources and people they need to get a new arena deal done. These new members of the ownership group reflect that.

Where he’s been: One bright spot for last season was the randomly great Zaza Pachulia stretch in the first two weeks of the season.

Larry Sanders was out because of a torn thumb ligament suffered in a nightclub altercation that was clearly instigated by goons hired by cartoon supervillain Dan Gilbert. Pachulia stepped in immediately with 13 points and 11 rebounds against the New York Knicks. Then he had 24 points on 10 shots against the Boston Celtics. Larry who?

But Pachulia wasn’t meant to fill a starter’s role for the Bucks. A bout of tendonitis brought him back to Earth, and then a fractured right foot in early December took him out for two months. Shortly after Pachulia returned, James Harden threw an elbow into Sanders face, knocking him out for the season. Just coming back from a foot injury and thrust back into the starting lineup, Pachulia couldn’t provide the defense Sanders could and absent was the offensive efficiency he had earlier in the season.

Pachulia finished with his worst shooting percentage since his rookie year and his worst total rebounding percentage of his career.

What he does: Pachulia can be very valuable in limited minutes. Last year, he averaged 25 minutes a game which was far more than he or anyone else was expecting. He’s a good offensive big man off the bench with limited minutes. Even though he didn’t show it last year, through his career he’s been a strong scorer and offensive rebounder. Several months removed from his foot problems, he can probably find the scoring touch and physicality that makes him a valuable backup center.

One new wrinkle that Pachulia added last year was pretty adept passing. As he’s gotten older, Pachulia has become a better passer. He’s spent most of his career with an assist rate hovering around six percent. That jumped to ten percent for the 2012-13 season. His assist rate leaped again to 16 percent last season. To put that in context, he assisted on a higher percentage of possessions than potential point guard Giannis Antetokounmpo last season. A passer in the post or the high post would be huge for this team. Without a strong point guard, passing will need to be a team effort.

Where he fits: Jason Kidd knows how to use a scoring center. Before he got injured, Brook Lopez was well on his way to being an all-star. Despite this, Pachulia belongs on the bench. If Pachulia averages more than 20 minutes a game, then the Bucks aren’t getting the reps their young guys need.

He’s best utilized as a locker room leader. At 30, Pachulia has the most experience on the team. On the court, he’s best used to give a Jabari Parker another look. Pachulia will be the worst defender out of the crop of centers that Parker will be working with. What can Parker do as a power forward when he doesn’t have Sanders or John Henson as a safety valve. On offense, where can Parker be to take advantage of Pachulia’s passing?

Everything is about player development for the Bucks. Pachulia’s greatest value is in how he can help spur that development.

Where he’s been: Traded four times in six seasons, Jerryd Bayless has seen himself on teams that mirror where the Bucks are (2013-14 Boston Celtics) and on teams that the Bucks want to be(2012-13 Memphis Grizzlies). And he’s been on the teams in between (2008-10 Portland Trailblazers). He carried himself well in every situation.

“I think my experience in the league is a little bit different than most,” Bayless said. “I’m 25 and I’ve been in a lot of different situations…. I’m just going to try to teach these guys the right way to do things and help out any way I can.”

Heis a professional. This is important because disgruntled Gary Neal and well-paid, fat, OJ Mayo definitely were not. Their attitudes last season, while hard to quantify the effect, left a big stench on the team last year.

What he does: On the court, Bayless has touted his versatility and reputation as a reserve combo guard.

“Whether it’s the 1 or the 2, I can do both and I feel I can do both well,” Bayless said. “Just depending on whatever coach Kidd envisions for this program, that’s what I’m going to try to do.”

This is questionable at best. During his short time in Boston, he had an 8.8 PER at PG and the offense came to a grinding halt when he was the point guard, averaging only 89.1 points per 100 possessions. In Memphis, they were slightly better with 95.7 points per 100 possessions.

Bayless is a shooting guard through and through. He worked best in both Boston and Memphis when they deployed him at shooting guard. For Milwaukee, he’ll also work best as a streaky scoring punch off the bench.

The problem is that he has a career three-point percentage that’s just below average. He’s never been over 37 percent three-point shooting in a year he’s played over 70 games. Plus, while he once would aggressively drive to the hoop in college, he hasn’t been as likely to drive in the pros. He does his best and most frequent shooting at the elbows where he shot 48 percent last season. For a team that finished dead last in 3P%, he isn’t the best reserve guard to bring onto a team that either needs more guys spacing the floor or drawing defenders inside.

What will he do this season: Like all microwaves, Bayless is going to have his moments. I can guarantee that he’s going to have a game this year that’s going to drive the crowd nuts. Just don’t get too attached. There’s a reason he’s been traded four times in six years.

People always get on me for giving out what is perceived as a bad grade even though I have been JUSTIFIED every time. This game, especially, I feel like there is no ground for anyone to complain about any F grade I hand out. Don’t let the final score fool you. This game was a beatdown from tip-off – at some points, the Bucks were down by nearly 40 points. The starters are to blame. They came out flat and the Bucks quickly fell to a 39 point first quarter from the Kings.

The Kings weren’t running anything particularly complicated. No one is confusing them for the Spurs offense. They got some switches for some really good mismatches like Demarcus Cousins versus Middleton or Ilyasova versus Rudy Gay. But for the most part, they were just killing the Bucks one-on-one.

I’ve made my share of OJ Mayo jokes this season, so it would be wrong of me to not mention that Mayo had a fine game. It was a solid, complete offensive game. This was pretty much what the Bucks were expecting when they signed him.

Larry Drew

I think the best argument against tanking is that a potential future all-star is going to start with Larry Drew as his head coach.

Four Things We Saw

There was a stretch in the third quarter where the Bucks had given up and just started throwing lobs for no particular reason and without very much success. Needless to say, I loved it. This is pretty much how I play video game basketball.

DeMarcus Cousins is the man. I wish the Bucks had stayed at least partially competitive so he could have gone for 50.

A quote from Rudy Gay upon seeing a heavier Mayo:”Was I surprised to see it? Little bit. I haven’t seen him, but we talked a little bit. He said he was hurt, and I guess when you’re hurt in Wisconsin, you eat.”1. This is the truest thing anyone has said about Wisconsin residents. Although, most Wisconsinites don’t need an injury to justify their eating habits. 2. This quote made me laugh and laugh and laugh until I died and my spirit floated to the heavens where I kept laughing at such length and volume that I was sent back to share my joy with the world.

I have to put my thoughts on Chris Wright here because he played SO WELL that the HTML breaks just trying to talk about him. Wright was a true bright spot for the Bucks. He came out with fire and purpose which is something that can’t be honestly be said of most of the Bucks roster. He was flying through the air from the moment he stepped on the court – blocking shots and dunking. This is all we really want from Wright.

Removed from this season’s context, this game was really enjoyable to watch. It was close all the way through. There were multiple lead changes. The game had a good flow. The Bucks didn’t win, but the ending was good. This is the only way to enjoy any Bucks games this season – removed from context. Because once you actually start thinking about this team’s situation, finding a reason to care about their games becomes a suffocating burden. So enjoy the good games as they come along because they have been few and far between this season. Kind of like good Ilyasova games.

After a miserable first half, Middleton followed it up with a hot second half. Then he caught fire in overtime to keep the Bucks close. But even with his overtime contributions, the Bucks couldn’t keep up.

I don’t get to see the Blazers very often because of time zone differences. But I do have a friend that lives there that has yelled at me about how good they are. I am not as bullish on their playoff chances. Knight and Ramon Sessions put up a lot of points against the Blazers, but with how easily they got into the paint, I’m sure most adequate guards could have put up 20 on the Blazers last night.

What to Watch For: Bucks

The remarkable thing about the interest in Antetkounmpo isn’t just the breadth of coverage that he’s getting, it’s the type of coverage. A quick google search of ‘Giannis adorable’ will give you results from Yahoo!, USA Today, Dime Mag etc. A Twitter search of the same will render thousands of tweets. Even his entire family is considered cute.

A recent Scoop Jackson story on Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucksketball’s very own Jeremy Schmidt said, “An interesting thing I’m seeing with Giannis coverage and reaction is how often people are referring to him as ‘adorable.’ I can’t remember [hearing] that was one of the go-to adjectives when referring to a professional athlete. Everyone seems equal parts excited about what he’s capable of on the court and how he feels about having his very first smoothie.

“His naiveté and willingness to be forthcoming about how exciting new experiences are for him have turned him into a mix between an athletic marvel and a cat meme.”

Far be it from me to tell people to stop calling a 6’10” adult who has experienced very real hardships cute. It isn’t particularly sinister, but there’s a very real turn off to infantilizing and othering Antetokounmpo like he’s Prince Akeem from Coming to America.

Every “Aww! He had hamburgers for the first time,” casts Antetokounmpo as “the simple foreigner,” which is rather unflattering. It’s a disservice – not just to Giannis, but to everyone else. It robs every one of his complexity as a basketball player and individual for a simpler, effortless narrative that’s easy to digest. He is a bundle of contradictions – a package of personality and athleticism that’s never been seen in the league.

He’s going to grow up right in front of us. It’d be a shame if we don’t let him.

What to watch for: Celtics

The Milwaukee Bucks are 2-1 against the Boston Celtics this season – making the Celtics the only team that the Bucks have won multiple games all season. Surprising because Jared Sullinger (21 points and 14 rebounds on November 20)and Vitor Faverani (12 and 18 on November 1) have both had career games against the Bucks. I fully expect Sullinger to have 30 rebounds in a Bucks victory.

What to Watch For: Bucks

Normally the way to counter a team that likes to run is to send your guys back on defense instead of going for the offensive rebound. But it’s not like the Milwaukee Bucks defense is going to stop the Suns anyway, so I feel like they just need to send everyone to get the offensive rebound. That’s what the Chicago Bulls do. It helps keep the opposing team from getting in transition and keeps possessions going. This is not what the Bucks will do because Larry Drew is the least inspiring coach ever.

My current Bucks feelings can be summed up in this gif:

What to watch for: Suns

In stark contrast to the Bucks, the Suns have one of the best offenses in the league. It’s easily the best offense without a certifiable superstar on the roster. They’ve been able to keep this really brilliant offense humming even with Eric Bledsoe out indefinitely. Bledsoe had been brilliant with Goran Dragic in two point guard lineups with both of them averaging over 15 points and 5 assists. But Bledsoe’s value for the Suns has come more on the defensive where he’s a solid man defender. In fact, losing Bledsoe may have helped the Suns offense since it gives more possessions to Dragic.

The Dragic, Channing Frye, Gerald Green 3-man lineup has the third best offensive rating among 3-man lineups in the league. They’re just behind Ray Allen, Chris Bosh, and Lebron James and Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Boris Diaw. Frye has been an important pick-and-pop guy for Dragic. Green has been very efficient from midrange – shooting 52% from that area.

What to Watch For: Bucks

The Pistons have Andre Drummond and they are the best offensive rebounding team in the league (18th in defensive rebounding percentage). And the Bucks are the worst defensive rebounding team in the league. Somehow the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Detroit Pistons on the boards which seems like the biggest upset of the season. They’ll have another good rebounding challenge against Anderson Varejao and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s not really out of the question for the two things that won them the rebounding battle against the Pistons to appear again: a strong game from Miroslav Raduljica and a number of long rebounds off of some incredibly irresponsible threes.

Speaking of irresponsible three pointers, everyone is about to suffer from Caron Butler’s second good game of the season. Remember Butler’s 38 points against the Sixers? Neither did I! He followed that up with five points against the Charlotte Bobcats. Expect the same because going 7-7 from midrange is preposterous. But going 2-10 from three again is not out of the question!

What to watch for: Cavaliers

Watch out for Luol Deng! The Cavaliers haven’t taken off like they hoped since acquiring Deng (3-4 since trading for him). He’s been modestly good only averaging a 17 and 4, but that’s better than anything they’d be getting from Dion Waiters, Earl Clark, or Alonzo Gee in that spot.

This is a game between two of the least efficient offensive teams in the NBA. Both of them are even worse post-timeout. I’d put money down that no one scores after a timeout in this game.